Collaboration: bridge or chasm?

With ever-greater frequency, organizations highlight the importance of collaboration, both internally and with their trading partners. Few would argue that collaboration depends upon strong relationships, so the early findings from current WorldCC research are a cause for concern.

Despite the clear benefits, the survey shows that there is a notable shortfall in the execution of relationship management. This is recognized by most in the buyer community and contributes to a lack of belief among suppliers, where 77% question the sincerity of customers in truly wanting to collaborate. This gap is largely attributed to:

1. Internal Challenges: Buyers report significant internal challenges, such as overlapping or poorly defined roles and responsibilities (69%), unrealistic expectations (58%), and frequent changes in requirements (50%). These issues point to a need for better internal alignment and clearer communication within organizations.

2. Transactional Focus: Relationship management is often confined to project or contract levels, leading to a focus on immediate transactional performance rather than long-term business value. This narrow scope limits the potential for broader strategic benefits that relationship management and collaboration can offer.

3. Limited Use of Relationship Management-Specific Technology: Despite the availability of sophisticated technology tailored to relationship management, most rely on Contract Lifecycle Management and Data Analytics tools. The under-utilization of technology represents a missed opportunity to support more effective relationship management practices.

The full report will be issued to survey participants at the end of January. If you’d like to be among the recipients, you can participate at

https://iaccm.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0SLXODYKzKDz1ci